Two parallel stories unfold in this interactive drama, making the audience decision makers in their outcomes.  Will the prisoner receive his pardon in time from the governor? Will the chimp convince the jury that not he alone, but every being unfairly incarcerated deserves their liberty?

 

Writer/director/actor/puppeteer, Kevin Augustine crafts a challenging, contemporary tale on oppressive systems that intertwine the fates of both human and animal lives. Inspired by the actual David-and-Goliath court case of McDonald’s Corporation V Steel & Morris (a U.K. case where McDonald's filed a libel lawsuit against environmental activists critical of the company), The People Vs Nature follows a court injunction brought against a pharmaceutical conglomerate by one of the very test subject-primates being studied in their lab.

 

Featuring a time-bending plot spanning 50 years, this production unpacks our cultural relativism while challenging the audience to reconsider their own biases and beliefs— all filtered through the perspective of captive outsiders in our midst.